


Stars and Snowflakes

by Silverwing94



Category: Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/M, Stalker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 23:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13282134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverwing94/pseuds/Silverwing94
Summary: When her abusive relationship ends in her being stalked, Nowlin becomes scared, a  prisoner in her own city. Her parents suggest that she move to Echo Village in order to take over her Grandfather's farm and assist an old family friend. She knows nothing about farming, but anything has to be better than where she is now. Follow Nowlin as she gets used to life in a new town, a sleepy disheveled town in need of much help. What she doesn't know is that her ex's promise "this isn't over" was more than just words.





	Stars and Snowflakes

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is my first time writing a fanfiction in a long time, but I hope you all enjoy it! Any question's you have I'll have answers to in the notes of the next chapter. I'm not too happy with the formatting of the first chapter but I promise it will be better in future chapters!

 

 

“Nowlin, I just don’t understand why you don’t think this won’t work, I-“

 

“It’s not going to work Leo, it’s just...” Nowlin felt her breath hitch as she tried to collect her thoughts. The snow falling did nothing to enrich the beauty of her surroundings when she was so busy worrying about the storm churning in her heart. 

 

“A reason. Give me one reason that what we have isn’t going to last!” Nowlin could feel the salt from her tears sting the cuts against her chapped lips, every feeling intensified although fear was the emotion that rose above the deadly waves of the situation.

 

It was the only thing that was still here for her. But the coil in her finally snapped, and she swallowed her breath.

 

Yes, she was a coward. But she couldn’t be, not at that moment.

 

“Look at me, Leo! Do you think this is a healthy way to look? Do you think beating me for talking to the postman or screaming at me for looking up for more than five seconds is how you’re supposed to treat someone you love?!” Anything she felt was replaced by the cool numbness that she had taught herself to feel when it came to Leo as she stared at him evenly.

 

“That’s why it’s over.” The sound of her heart hammering against its prison was all she could hear for a moment, soon replaced by Leo’s broken laughter. He grabbed her wrist and she struggled to pull her arm free.

 

“You are not leaving me that easily!”

 

“Let...me...go!” She cried, not able to free herself from his grasp. It was at that moment that she felt his hand loosen, the frightening warmth gone and replaced by comfort. Desperate purple eyes opened after a moment, her father’s green gaze boring into the man in front of them.

 

“She said it was done, Leo. I’ll be taking her home now.” Leo was unstable, that much Nowlin had learned after she had made the mistake, but he wasn’t stupid. Her father’s taller, stronger frame won out compared to Leo who was long and lanky and what from Nowlin could surmise, not very good at hitting anything more than a woman. More than her.

 

She felt safe, her father’s ashy scent comforting her as she leaned into the warm protection he had offered her as he stepped up onto the porch.

 

Safe enough to twist the commitment ring from her finger and hand it back to Leo, who was wearing a stone expression although she could have sworn that his eye twitched.

 

She let her father lead her down towards their car, and she took one final look at Leo, who was watching them leave. As the snow gathered in her fluffy scarf, she could see his mouth moving, and the words were terrifying.

 

“This isn’t over.”

* * *

 

After that night the calls hadn’t stopped, the letters, the unsolicited visits to her workplace. It had been too much for Nowlin. It became apparent rather quickly that the Police weren’t going to take Leo’s stalking seriously. He hadn’t harmed her, and so they had no case. Was that how the law was supposed to work? Nowlin couldn’t be sure, but Leo had already backed her into the corner.

 

She was too afraid to go outside by herself. So afraid that she bad quit her job days earlier, and spent all her time at her parents house, her brother staying with them since she refused to be home by herself. Her brother worked days, her father worked nights, but someone was home for her all the time incase Leo finally had the balls to bust through her window or something like that.

 

Did it sound silly? She didn’t know anymore.

 

“Honey, do you remember Dunhill?” Her father said one night at Dinner after a mouthful of Penne had been successfully swallowed. Nowlin looked up from her plate, hardly touched only to shake her head slightly.

 

“No. I remember you mentioning him but I don’t remember actually-“

 

“You were only two. Dunhill said you were the smallest little bean that he’d ever seen.” Her mother cut in with a gentle smile.

 

She didn’t remember Dunhill, but she wondered about her parent’s sudden interest in bringing it up.

 

“Mom, dad, what’s this about?” She asked, turning when she heard her brother Charlie clear his throat.

 

“They miss the tough Nowlin. The one we all knew before that Shitwad came along.” He mentioned bluntly, ignoring the stare that their mother gave him.

 

“Honey, what your brother so tactfully mentioned is...actually true. We know you’re scared—“

 

“I’m fine—“

 

“Bullshit—“

 

“Shut up Charlie!” Before the siblings could go any further, their father cleared his throat. 

 

“Ahem. We know you’re scared Nowlin, and living in the same town with someone like Leo isn’t helping you flourish, honey. You’re a young adult, and you need to experience the world, and after seeing what Leo’s done to you I...” when he couldn’t finish his sentence, he slid a document across the table, one which Nowlin took gingerly between her fingers.

 

“A...deed?”

 

“To your grandpa’s old farm, in Echo Village.” Nowlin wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with it. Grandpa Nicolas had passed away when she was four, so she couldn’t call herself particularly close to him in her memory.

 

“So what am I supposed to do with it?”

 

“Eat it, the heck do you think its for Nowlie?” Nowlin rounded on Charlie, slamming her fist on the table and just missing the rim of his place that would have sent his beloved Penne flying.

 

“Keep talking and I’m going to shove it down your throat. You’ll tell me how it tastes right?” There was a slight pause, followed by a grin from her brother who pushed her back slightly. “See? That’s the little sister I know.” He said triumphantly before returning to his Penne.

 

“We want you to take over Grandpa’s farm, sweetie. Dunhill says its still there, and you’d be paid for the work you do.” Her mother finished after her children were done with their little outburst. Nowlin looked from the deed back to her parents. 

 

“I don’t know a rake from a garden spade, and you expect me to take care of a whole farm?” Nowlin asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. Her mother clasped her hands together with a nod.

 

“You used to work with Grandpa all the time when you were little you know,” she said cheerfully, Charlie nearly choking on his food.

 

“She stabbed a bag of his tomatoes with a garden spade.”

 

“Yes but Grandpa said he could make some lovely Ketchup out of it.” Nowlin shook her head, turning her attention back to her father. 

 

“Nowlin, Dunhill said that his village needs help and...you need to leave this city while we figure out what to do about Leo.” Leo’s name sent a noticeable panic to set within her eyes.

 

“What if he does something to you?”

 

“He won’t touch my family so long as I’m breathing.” Nowlin looked away from them for a moment, almost hyper focused on the deed in her hands. She didn’t know how to farm. But she was a hard worker, right? She could learn. And perhaps it was better than sitting in her parents house waiting for disaster to strike, wasn’t it?

 

“...Alright. I’ll do it. I don’t know how much I can help this Dunhill guy but you’re right. I can’t keep myself hidden like this. So I’ll do it.”

 

She could have sworn she had never seen her parents happier.

 

* * *

 

And that was how Nowlin ended up on the dusty old path in what she supposed was the direction of Echo Village. A duffel bag slung around her body and a rucksack on her back, the city girl had to admit that she didn’t quite know the way. But her head was clearer than it had been in a few weeks, the haze of the city and Storm Leo behind her as soon as she had boarded the bus.

 

But now the dilemma was which way to go. There had been a sign here once bearing directions, she could tell, but the sign had long since either snapped off or had been stolen, and she wasn’t sure where she was supposed to go from there.

 

“Maybe...left? No I think I heard something growling that way...right?”

 

“It is most definitely right.” She nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice. It was feminine, and almost had an ethereal echo to it. She looked around, a little alarmed when she didn’t see anyone.

 

“Alright, I know that i’ve been a little out of sorts lately, but I know I’m don’t have voices in my head.” Nowlin said with a raised eyebrow, hoping it was an illusion of her mind. Maybe she had been walking too long, maybe Charlie had taped a recorder to the inside of her bag, who knew?”

 

“I’m not in your head at all love, and with as lost as you appear to be, I would take any help you can get.” Now she was definitely hearing things. But what if it was her subconscious telling her which way to go? What if she was going crazy? 

 

No, the second one seemed much more likely, all of Nowlin was pretty terrible with directions.

 

“Okay...well I’m going to go right now...if you could stop making me think I’m crazy now, that would be you know, peachy.” Another voice almost killed her.

 

“Hey there young Missy, you happen to know where you’re going?” She could start keeping record on how high she jumped when people snuck up on her. But no one sounded like Leo, so the fear didn’t set in as much as the surprise. She was far away from Leo, he couldn’t find her now, right?

 

Turning, she spotted an older gentleman clad in a brown outfit, gray hair and beard ruffled slightly by the wind. At least she knew she wasn’t totally crazy. She could see this one. She reached out, squeezing his shoulder to make sure he was real, and the old man in question raised an eye row.

 

“Pardon?” Realizing what she was doing, Nowlin smiled sheepishly and pulled her hand back, tugging on a lock of her long black hair. “Sorry I was just making sure you...er...uhm anyway, do you know the way to Echo Village?”

 

“Know the way? Girl I’m the mayor. Dunhill at your service.” He said with a cheery (if not slightly weirded out) expression.

 

“Dunhill? I’m Nowlin! Nowlin-“ she tried to finish but her voice died down as recognition flashed in Dunhill’s eyes.

 

“- Jaseman, right? You’ve finally arrived!”

 


End file.
